Well....it's been a bit of a whirlwind this last week. I can't actually remember when I last blogged and I'm sure I'll leave bits out, but there you go. So, here's a (brief) update on what's been going on....
So, last Wednesday was the big day with regard to my ESA benefit appeal. I was very nervous, as you can imagine. I was also nervous for another reason, which I'll get to a little later on...so on Wednesday morning, after a disturbed sleep, I was awake early and feeling sick. I was very lucky that my fabulous friend J had agreed to come with me. Noticing how nervous I was, and being the lovely son that he can be, A offered to come with me to the station and keep me company until the train arrived. It was the best thing he could have done, as having him there took my mind of the tribunal, and allowed me to relax a little bit. J joined the train at Fratton, and we spent the journey talking about my other news (*big grin*) which also helped to make me feel somewhat calmer. When we got to Havant we eventually managed to find our way out of the station and onto the correct road, and finally into the tribunal centre. We didn't have long to wait, which was nice as I was starting to get nervous again. When we went into the courtroom, the judge didn't even wait until I'd sat down before saying "well I'm very sympathetic to this case but I have to go through the points the DWP have raised".... As you can imagine I was really pleased by this, but (being me) didn't want to get my hopes up too much.... He then proceeded to ask me several questions about my house, the post which had gone missing, and what I'd said to Atos and the DWP. It seemed to go on forever but was actually only about 5-10 minutes. He then looked at me and said, "I'm going to allow this appeal". YAY.. I was sooo pleased and relieved. He said he was allowing it for two reasons, one because the DWP had accepted the reason for missing the appointment the first time, so they should have accepted it again the next time and two, because they had failed to follow their own rules regarding taking into account all health issues. J and I walked out there with HUGE smiles on our faces, and did a little dance of joy. We had to wait for them to get me a copy of the decision, but once we got it, it was off to a local cafe for a cuppa and a kitkat (yeah we know how to celebrate in style...lol...)...
I'm sure you can all imagine how relieved I am. I should get all the ESA backdated, other issues such as council tax benefit will be reinstated, and (more to the point) common sense has actually prevailed... I've yet to hear from the DWP regarding when they'll actually reinstate my ESA but I plan to ring them tomorrow to chase it up. I'm not exactly convinced that they'll be rushing to do it, so I think it's best to keep on top of them.. :) Having this resolved has been a huge weight off my shoulders, and has improved my mood no end. Although there have been other developments which have also cheered me up... and I guess it's about time that I shared those with you.
Some of you, maybe all of you, will already know this. But for those of you who don't, I'm no longer single and lonely...yay for me.. I really wasn't expecting this and so, although it's been on the cards for some time now, I'm still slightly stunned...but very happy. I'm not going to bore you all, or nauseate you, with the details, but for those of you who, like me, love to know the story, here are the highlights:
His name is Jack, and we met 4 years ago when he came to uni in Pompey. I rather liked him then, but it wasn't to be as he got together with a friend of mine. But we did become good friends, and things stayed that way for a year or so. Sadly, and due to the actions of others, the group of friends broke apart, things changed, I finished my degree, and we lost touch...in all honesty, although I hoped we'd get back in touch, I wasn't convinced we would. Last year, however, I was in a meeting with my dissertation supervisor when who should knock on the door but Jack....I was shocked, and stupidly didn't take the chance to get back in touch...I kicked myself for that. I ummed and ahhed about finding him, and adding him, on Facebook, but again, chickened out. Then I noticed he was in a group I'm in on FB, and, although it took me another month, I eventually friend requested him. Long story short, we started chatting, and things developed from there. We met up again at his graduation, and he came down again last week......and the rest, as they say, is history (which is apt, considering we're both history geeks). I don't think I've smiled so much in years. I'm not going into gushy detail, that's not my thing, but I feel very fortunate right now. The things we have in common, not to mention how lovely he is to me, make me feel properly good about myself for the first time in ages. I can't help pinching myself sometimes, because I never really expected this to happen. :)
Right now, I'm sitting on the sofa, next to my darling god-daughter S, with my bestie, C, sitting next to her and A sitting on the balcony with C's daughter Ch...They've come down for the week, and I'm chuffed to bits.... We always try to get together for a week in the holidays, and they usually come to us as we're by the sea. We're both skint, but it doesn't matter because we can just chill and enjoy ourselves anyway..... I'm enjoying the break from my dissertation, not to mention having lovely cuddles from my god-daughters....
One thing which has been really clear this last week is that I have some amazing friends. The happiness people have shown over the appeal win, as well as over my other news, has been so great, it's really made me smile to see how pleased people are and I love it. Thank you all.
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